Cynthia Erivo in Full Bloom

I meet Cynthia Erivo in the eye of a hurricane.

She and her team are mere moments from announcing that Erivo has completely lost her voice and will be abstaining from interviews at the New York City premiere of Wicked: For Good. I am the last person she speaks to before this happens, which gives our ensuing conversation a charged calm before the winds of that press maelstrom descend back on the both of us.

In the moment, the noise and crush of paparazzi and fans and publicists have faded to stillness. Erivo cuts through that with a keen awareness of just how crazy everything has become. Not just with what she brought to the process of making these two films, but what she's taken from them too. It's a focus not many could match when confronted with a film that has become the biggest box office opening for a Broadway musical adaptation in history.

She tells me, her voice a near whisper, that "This second film is much more grown up. She's way more into her womanhood, and I wanted to embrace that, and I also felt like it's a really beautiful way to sort of segue into being back on my own two feet, in my own lane." We're discussing the artistic evolution of her red carpet style, which has moved from the emeralds of the first film's press cycle to multi-color textures and sleeker silhouettes. "It's like marrying Elphaba with me, finally, as opposed to just telling Elphaba’s story."

I ask, then, in the experience of coming back to herself, if there's any part of Elphaba she's ready to leave behind. "That is such a good question. Ready to let go of? I don’t know. I've never asked myself that question." Erivo pauses to collect her thoughts, and then says that "I don't know if there's anything I want to let go of."

It echoes what others in orbit around Wicked — costume designer Paul Tazewell, star Marissa Bode — have similarly expressed. Just about anyone these films have passed over professionally have been changed. For Erivo, she doesn't feel the film "is ever going to really leave me, to be honest. Not just the experience on set, not just the making of it, but the things that have come from it." She experiences that change in "the way that people have opened up themselves to tell me their stories, the way people have embraced one another, embraced themselves because of the character"

"I've come to the realization that this piece is going to be a part of my life for the rest of my life, and it's always going to be a part of the conversation of how my career is, and what my career has been," Erivo tells me. "I've just surrendered to it and it's kind of beautiful that this is the thing I get to surrender to." Her voice is still barely a whisper, and I feel a certain kind of magic in the air around us; rain patterns the streets of New York City and the season continues its inexorable turn towards winter, towards the new year. It makes for a spell not wholly dissimilar to those found in Elphaba's grimmerie.

And, just like the seasons, and the premiere of Wicked: For Good, or even her voice for the moment, my interview with Cynthia Erivo passes too. Moments later my phone buzzes, and I see the notice that she'd be abstaining from interviews for the rest of the day. I'm reminded of a story she'd told me about Givenchy director Sarah Burton insisting on personally managing a fitting, even when sick herself. "I love making films. I love being able to play these characters and tell these stories, so I think as a whole, I’m just a creative who loves to do the work."

Thank Oz for the changes; thank Oz for the work. For more from PAPER's cover story with Cynthia Erivo, shot by David LaChapelle, read on.

You looked fabulous at the Governor’s Ball. I loved your Givenchy look.

Thank you!

I’m fascinated by your design relationship with Sarah Burton. You worked with her at the Met, and then for the Paris premiere as well. What do you value in having a designer like Sarah to work with?

There's a few things that come into play when it comes to Sarah. It's not just her genius. The fact is she's a genius, but she still approaches fashion as though she is a student. She's still really curious about how you can make it fit the individual, and she's never shy about shifting and changing things for the better. There's no ego there. The very first time I sat in a room with her, she was the one that took my size, she took my measurements and she was there with one other person who was measuring and she was writing down all the numbers.

This time around, when we were fitting the dress, she was at my house fitting the dress with me, and so I feel like she values the personal relationship over the commerce of it all, which means that we can really play. She's actually still excited by it, which is so much fun to be around. It's really inspiring, which is why I really, really value her.

There are probably many designers that would've sent the assistant for the fitting.

She wants to be there. When we were fitting the dress for Paris, she wasn't well, and I said: Just send your right hand James. Her right hand is amazing and I love him and he's wonderful. I said, We'll be fine. She said, No, no, I'm taking a painkiller and I'm coming. She wanted to be present for all of the process. That was a choice, and that would never have offended me if she decided to stay at home. I wanted her to rest and she wanted to be there, so just the dedication to actually wanting to show up is really special.

I have really seen a design transformation for you and your red carpet directives for this second press tour. What was the decision behind evolving your look in the press for this movie, going from green to more textured colors and blacks?

This second film is much more grown up. She's way more into her womanhood, and I wanted to embrace that, and I also felt like it's a really beautiful way to sort of segue into being back on my own two feet, in my own lane. It's like marrying Elphaba with me, finally, as opposed to just telling Elphaba’s story. I wanted it to feel more sensual. I wanted it to feel a little sexy, a little dangerous, because I feel like that's the side we get to see of her in this film. That's something that's very much part of myself, that I don't necessarily get to show very often. I wanted to really play with that. So we've just been playing, especially with textures and shapes and the sculpture and the structure of things, letting it be more skin showing, more lace, more leather, those kinds of things.

It's interesting to hear you talk about coming back to yourself for this. Obviously a movie like this must be pretty transformative, with how massive it is and the fans and how important it is for people. Is there anything in that transformation that you're also ready to let go of, when it comes to this next chapter of your career?

That is such a good question. Ready to let go of? I don’t know. I've never asked myself that question. I don't know. I don't know if there's anything I want to let go of, particularly because the things that have come from it have been so special.

From an outside perspective, it seems like a maelstrom of an experience, and I’ve heard you all speak so highly of how transformative it was. It must feel like it takes over you completely.

It does. I've come to the realization that this piece is going to be a part of my life for the rest of my life, and it's always going to be a part of the conversation of how my career is, and what my career has been, and so I've just surrendered to it and it's kind of beautiful that this is the thing I get to surrender to.

I’ve heard from other people in franchises, or movies like this, where they talk about carrying it with them forever.

I don’t think this is ever going to really leave me, to be honest. Not just the experience on set, not just the making of it, but the things that have come from it, the way that people have opened up themselves to tell me their stories, the way people have embraced one another, embraced themselves because of the character, people coming forward, admitting to how different they feel and how much they didn't fit in. I don't know. There's something kind of wonderful about being able to be the seed that kind of tree grows from. It's a special duty, I guess, that has been bestowed upon us, and I'm proud of that.

Paul Tazewell said something similar to me. He talked about being able to channel one’s art through something that means so much to people and has, frankly, meant so much for over a hundred years.

There was always a chance that people wouldn't necessarily open their arms to what this was, or what this would become, and the fact that people have run headlong into it and accepted everything, all the differences, all the little changes and nuances that we've added, is really kind of wonderful, because something like this, people can really hold onto tightly. There's always the chance that people want it to be as it is and as it was, and they don't want any change, but people seem to have just been really kind and generous and open to what we can bring to this story.

It's funny too, as there's this whole other element to this press cycle where the fan interactions have been quite interesting. I saw a video the other day where someone found a hat of yours from the premier last year. What was that like?

So at the London premiere last year, I lost this hat and I was devastated. We couldn't find it anywhere, and then in Paris, I dunno, there was a little group of people outside of another event that I was walking into and I thought, I'll say hello to everyone and I'll sign and I'll take pictures, and the last person in that line said, “Hey, do you remember that hat you were wearing in London?” I said yes, and she said, “Well, I have that hat.” I said, what? I had honestly decided that hat was never to be seen again. So the idea that someone was kind enough… I don't know? There's a sort of kindness that comes from someone holding onto something and still being able to return it back to its owner. I just thought that was a wonderful, extraordinary moment of kindness and goodness.

There is a world where the person sells it or posts about it online, and instead they kept it all this time to get back to you, like a wallet.

It's so sweet, because she said, “People said I could sell it, I should sell it, and I was like, no.” She said, “No, no, no. I'm going to hold onto it.” She could have just held onto it. She could have not said anything at all, but the fact that she said, “Hey, I have the hat and I'd like to give it back” … It was such a wonderful, honest moment of kindness.

I’m speaking to you, like I said, in the eye of the hurricane right now, just a week away from the premier, and you’re also losing your voice. What are you doing right now, to protect yourself from the chaos?

It's tea. It's a hot shower. It's my run in the morning, it's a sauna, if I can get one. It's making sure I eat in the right way, and it’s hydrating. I'm not always very good at that. I like quiet, so it's sound deprivation sometimes for me, just to sit, and watch absolute nonsense TV. I need my Real Housewives, I need all of those things just to be normal for a second.

I was just getting chills thinking about your recent cover at the live concert of “Get Happy,” mostly because I love Judy Garland so much, but also because your rendition of it was phenomenal, if I can say that to you.

Yes, you can. Thank you.

It had me thinking about the standards of divas past, like Judy, Barbara, Lena Horne, Aretha and Diana. Do you have any standards in that roster that you go back to, or are particular favorites of yours? This is a more selfish question, for Judy.

When I do my symphony concerts, I have songs of Aretha’s, I have “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” I have “Ain’t No Way” and I do “Natural Woman.” I have “At Last.” So I really do pick from the roster of those women, whether it be Nina Simone, Lena Horne, Aretha, Barbara, they’re all on my list. They’re all on my playlist, for my symphony concerts. I really love them! They’re the songs that I love to sing, so you are picking the right names. The names I go to for the music I love to sing.

I was just listening to Judy at Carnegie Hall, when she does “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I’m hoping that we maybe, someday, get a Cynthia Erivo at Carnegie Hall style live album.

I would love to. I would love to. I’ve not sung at Carnegie Hall yet, so that might be the one I do.

Do you plan on focusing back on music after Wicked, or do you have to do all these things — act, sing, perform — to feel complete as an artist?

I do all of them because that’s what feels right. I will definitely be focusing on music, I released an album this year, and I have a Grammy nomination because of it, and I’m so proud of it and I want to do more of that, and make more music, because I feel like it’s a part of me. But I love making films. I love being able to play these characters and tell these stories, so I think as a whole, I’m just a creative who loves to do the work.